Strength, Hope, Song

Radical Self-Reliance
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.

Ex. 20:8-11
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

In spiritualizing the Burning Man principle of Radical Self-Reliance, I enjoyed praying with Hymn 10 from the Christian Science Hymnal. It was written by Frederic W. Root and reads as follows:

All power is given unto our Lord,
On Him we place reliance;
With truth from out His sacred word
We bid our foes defiance.
With Him we shall prevail,
Whatever may assail;
He is our shield and tower,
Almighty is His power;
His kingdom is forever.

Rejoice, ye people, praise His name,
His care doth e’er surround us.
His love to error’s thralldom came,
And from its chains unbound us.
Our Lord is God alone,
No other power we own;
No other voice we heed,
No other help we need;
His kingdom is forever.

O then give thanks to God on high,
Who life to all is giving;
The hosts of death before Him fly,
In Him we all are living.
Then let us know no fear,
Our King is ever near;
Our stay and fortress strong,
Our strength, our hope, our song;
His kingdom is forever.

Could strength not represent the strength we each have, in getting to the playa, setting up camp, washing feet and doing all the other practical things that need doing? Strength for us and all.

Hope speaks more to our consciousness or state of thought. You cannot be despondent, discouraged, stressed or dismayed and hopeful at the same time. A hopeful, joyous and buoyant thought is expressed by each of us and everyone we come into contact with. This uplifted and uplifting consciousness attracts the thirsty and searching.

Last we have our song! What a song we sing! The tune is catchy – one of those tunes that just gets stuck in your head. It is a song of God’s love and healing. This song represents our sharing with each other and everyone we see. Everyone hears our song, and enjoys listening to it and especially enjoys singing along with us.

Through our radical reliance on God, we have strength to do all that is needed, a hopeful, uplifting attitude, and an endless song of Love.

Next up, we will be praying about the following:

Radical Self-Expression
Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.

Ex. 20:12
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Isn’t it wonderful how the commandments mesh so beautifully with the principles?! Thank you for your prayers. Please feel free to share your inspiration in the comments!